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Q&A: Josh Groban Sings About Love Lost – Again
"I'm in a different place, different mindset and the same thing goes – but I wanted the record to feel more energetic, more dynamic, more positive, more rhythmic and uplifting," he said.
"The last record, I was very proud of it, and it was a good record, but it was sad," he continued. "I was in a very, very tough place. I was going through a lot of changes in my life. I had gone through a really bad breakup. … It felt like I was getting a lot of it out of my system lyrically and musically, so it was a little bit of a sadder record."
Groban doesn't have Rubin by his side on All That Echoes, out this week. Instead, he's got Warner Bros. Records chairman and Green Day producer Rob Cavallo.
"For a guy who's at the top of the label chain to also say, 'Let's take chances and let's make music that just makes us feel really, really good' was so impressive to me," Groban said of Cavallo, who has also produced records for the Goo Goo Dolls, My Chemical Romance and Paramore.
Groban, who turns 32 this month, isn't just building his musical resume: He'll star as a failed rock band member working as a barista in the upcoming CollegeHumor indie comedy "Coffee Town," written and directed by "Arrested Development" writer Brad Copeland. The film will be released this year.
The singer talked about "Coffee Town," singing about relationships, album sales and more in a recent interview.
AP: You cover Stevie Wonder's "I Believe (When I Fall in Love It Will Be Forever)" on the album. How'd that come about?
Groban: The reason I think people relate to Stevie Wonder's love songs is because they really, truly, genuinely make you feel the way you feel, the way love is. Sometimes it's just "I Just Called to Say I Love You" and it's really as simple and cheesy as that. And sometimes it's a song like "I Believe," which we close the album with, which is that my past has been crap. I've missed the mark. I admit it. I'm not perfect. But when love comes my way again, kick up the gospel choir because I'm not going to let it go. … That's where I am right now, which is that when it comes along again, I'll be there to grab it.
Is it easy singing about your breakup?
You're exorcising the demons a little bit when you sing about love lost and the things that didn't quite work out. But you learn from that and you grow from that, and there's often times great art from that. My voice does sad really well, so I think selfishly sometimes it's more fun to sing the sadder songs just because sometimes the sadder melodies are the most beautiful.
You were 20 when you released your debut in 2001. What's it like to think about that time as you reflect on your life?
I was blissfully naive. I'll tell you, when I was 17 and signed, on the one hand I kind of missed out on having a pretty raucous college experience, where I could wake up on the bathroom floor and say, "All right, not doing that again." … If I could go back and talk to that kid though, I would just tell him to just chill out a little bit. I was just nervous as all hell. I was really worried a lot. I was anxious a lot.
Your last album went platinum, selling 1 million units, but most of your records have sold 5 million units each. Do you think about record sales a lot?
I'd be lying if I said that it wasn't important. It's your ticket to make the next record and I want to keep doing what I'm doing. But mostly it's the validation that you've done something that people want to have and own.
What was it like working with Rob Cavallo compared with Rick Rubin?
Rob was a great change of pace in a certain way because he likes to work very much based on riding a wave of energy when it's there, which is pretty compatible with how I like to work. … And whenever I would have doubts (like), "I don't know if this is my wheelhouse" or "I don't know if this is right for my voice," he'd be great at saying, "I don't know if you should sing that" or most of the time saying, "Well, shoot, let's expand what your wheelhouse is."
You're building your acting reel. What's that been like?
It's great to let out that other side because the music side is so serious that to be able to have an outlet for your funny bone, for your weird, oddball side is just cathartic for me. And it's actually what I started doing. I was in improv theater before I even started singing, so the fact that the comedy side is starting to work its way around in my world strangely, considering the kind of music I sing, I'll take it. It's wonderful.
Do you want to play a serious role?
Groban: Yeah, sure. I think I'm probably better at comedy, but comedians take serious roles sometimes and it actually goes really well. … I'd love to play a bad guy actually. I'd love to dive in and play some kind of French assassin, like "The Professional."


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Staples Canada, WinnipegStaples Canada, Winnipeg
About this Business
The journey from confusion to organization doesn't have to be a long one. Often enough, it's the length of one tiny strip of metal—the staple that holds a school paper together, or attaches a cover letter to a résumé. Staples doesn't carry staples exclusively, of course, but for 25 years, they've aspired to create that same sense of effortless order. Their library of products covers everything from business cards and postcards to signs and banners, all of which aim to help you market your business more effectively.
You will of course also find the normal library of office supplies and furniture, while the technology aisles feature more advanced gear: cameras, phones, label makers, tablets, and laptops from popular brands. Their Print & Marketing Centers churn out professional documents, business cards, photo gifts, and more. And, though Staples' focus is work, the stores can also furnish break rooms with chairs and coffeemakers.

subset: commoncrawl


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Another year, another successful three days in Utah for three men from Ionia.
Ron Flynn, Jerry Hopkins and Dick Mackowiak brought home bronze medals after finishing third in the men's 70-76 year-old gold division of the 3-on-3 tournament back in October at the 2012 Huntsman World Senior Games.
In all, 11 teams competed in the division.
The Ionia trio were also joined by teammates Sid Holtzer and Gary Kaylor from Florida.
The team finished 7-1 for the tournament and finished behind a team from Virgina and one from Arizona.
Mackowiak said that the competition is solid at the Huntsman World Senior Games, especially in their division where some teams have former college players on their rosters.
"You are starting to see more former college players in the games," he said. "Some of these guys played at Division I powers like Duke and North Carolina back in the 1950s and 1960's."
"A lot of people think you are supposed to have an advantage as one of the younger teams in the division," Flynn said. "But these guys that are still playing at 75 are extremely good.
Along with the 3-on-3 tournament, Flynn also played with a team in the 5-on-5 tournament.
The team has made 12 trips to St. George for the senior world games and have come back with medals eight times, including one gold.
Flynn said although its always nice to come home with a medal, the best part of the games is being able to play with men who have been friends of his for many years.
"The nice part for me is playing with teammates that I have played with for 15 years, and with a high school classmate (Hopkins).
"There is great camaraderie there. Not only between teammates, but with our opponents as well."
Some members of the Huntsman team are planning on returning to senior competition this summer at the Michigan Senior Olympics in June, with a chance to play in the Summer National Games in July in Cleveland, Ohio.
The Ionia trio has earned spots in the summer games four times, earning the bronze in their age group in 2009.


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The Washington Nationals begin their home season Monday afternoon at Nationals Park against the world champion Philadelphia Phillies, and after an 0-6 start on the road against the Marlins and Braves, the question on the mind of some Nats fans is "Who will win first: The Nationals or Teddy Roosevelt?"
In the first three years of the Nationals presidents race, three different presidents have taken the season crown (George in '06, Tom in '07, and Abe last year), which begs the question: Will 2009 be Teddy's year?
If the last two season openers are any indication, the opening day presidents race will be nothing if not entertaining. In 2007, Teddy was disqualified after flying into RFK Stadium on a zip line. On opening day 2008, Teddy was disqualified again for cutting across the outfield. If Teddy runs a clean race on Monday, we can hold out hope that a change of fortune is in store for 2009.
In April, there's always hope.
If you don't have tickets yet, grab your Let Teddy Win t-shirts and head down to Nationals Park tomorrow to take in all the changes at Nationals Park. The team may be having a rough start, but an afternoon at our new ballpark remains one of the best entertainment values in town, and it looks like tickets will still be available at the gate.
This year brings lower seat prices, more (and cheaper) open parking, open home batting practice, the renovated Red Porch restaurant, improved food concessions, the new statues installed in the centerfield plaza, and new 7-foot racing president bobbleheads in the Nats Family Fun Area — perfect for photo ops with Teddy (photo at right courtesy of Teddy fan Shanna Comai).
The centerfield gates open at 12:30pm, with festivities leading up to the first pitch:
12:30pm – Face painting & balloon artists, centerfield plaza
12:30pm – The music of Dr. Fu, new Centerfield Plaza Stage
12:30pm – The music of Road Soda, Miller Lite Scoreboard Walk Stage
12:45pm – Home team batting practice
2:00pm – Nats Xtra with Ray Knight and Johnny Holliday, centerfield plaza
2:35pm – David Gregory hosts pregame ceremonies with singer Patti Austin
3:05pm – First pitch
See you there!


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I got an email this weekend inviting me to publicize a project pertaining to Infinite Jest. From the email:
Open call for selected adaptations from "The Complete Filmography of James O Incandeza". A previous iteration of this exhibition took place at Columbia University this past winter, in which a number of specific artists were invited to participate. We would now like to invite artists, film makers, and gifted amateurs world-wide to submit their work. There are no restrictions in terms of content, length, or genre. Accomplished auteurs and YouTube uploaders alike are encouraged to participate. In our last exhibition, we presented everything from 16mm film to cellphone video.
Information is available at www.failedentertainment.com
Any questions may be directed to firstname.lastname@example.com
Seems like an interesting project.


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Stroudsmoor Country Inn combines an enchanting country setting with elegant sophistication.
Our five dedicated event venues, extensive event planning services, experienced floral and décor team,
highly acclaimed full-service catering and public restaurant,
charming accommodations, professional photography studio, on-site spa, bridal salon and
bridal registry are easily accessible and ensure stress-free
planning for memorable wedding celebrations and social events.
There are no refinement options.


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Flowmaster Force II Exhaust System 817552
- Our Price: $734.95
- Shipping:FREE SHIPPING
- Part Number: 817552
- Rating: (23)
Force II Cat Back Exhaust System
- Part #: 817552
- Single Rear Exit
- 50 Series Delta Flow
- 1 Tip with 4 In. Diameter
- Moderate Sound
- Installation Instructions
- Dyno Chart
$734.95Free Shipping
Select your vehicle details above to ensure item compatibility.
- The Flowmaster Force II Exhuast gives your ride the great performance of the Flowmaster American Thunder system at a quieter volume
- The Flowmaster Force II improves your passing power and acceleration by up to 10%
- Up to 2 mpg gains in fuel economy
- All Flowmaster exhaust pipes are mandrel-bent for the smoothest exhaust flow
- Chambered muffler minimizes backpressure for improved power
- Less interior resonance for quieter cruising
- Easy installation
- Hardware and easy-to-follow directions included
- Many systems include stainless steel tip(s)
- 3-Year Warranty
You don't need to wake the neighbors just to get some extra power under the hood. Flowmaster's engineers have unlocked the secret to boosting your power and performance without adding excessive noise. The Flowmaster Force II Exhaust System offers the same huge power gains as their American Thunder systems with a more comfortable cruising tone.
Flowmaster Force II Exhaust Systems immediately add a 5-10% boost in acceleration, as well as up to 2 more miles per gallon. The feel under your pedal is just like Flowmaster's famous American Thunder exhaust. But once you hit cruising altitude you get a mellower, more muffled sound. That sound comes courtesy of the chambered Flowmaster muffler, which deftly tunes out drone without losing exhaust flow. The Force II Flowmaster Exhaust System is crafted with mandrel-bent aluminized steel pipes and most systems are finished off with a polished Stainless tip.
Flowmaster, Inc. includes all the hardware you need for installation, as well as easy instructions that help you bolt most systems on in under an hour. Your Flowmaster Force II Exhaust System is covered by a three-year warranty.
Flowmaster 817552 fits:
- 2012-2018 Ford Focus
There are no reviews for this application.
See All Flowmaster Force II Exhaust System Reviews.


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Get the Jerry Maguire moment mug.
A person who is up late at night and is suddenly struck with an idea that will radically change the misdirection his company has been taking. Usually accompanied with regret the next morning after having realized how foolhardy it was. As seen in the film Jerry Maguire.
Sorry boss, I had a Jerry Maguire moment last night.
by mam25 December 5, 2009


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Afghanistan Casualties: Military Forces and Civilians
Description: This report collects statistics from a variety of sources on casualties sustained during Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), which began on October 7, 2001, and is ongoing. OEF actions take place primarily in Afghanistan; however, OEF casualties also include American casualties in Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Guantanamo Bay (Cuba), Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, the Philippines, Seychelles, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkey, and Yemen.
Date: September 6, 2012
Creator: Chesser, Susan G.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department


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Interview with John Lloyd Young of 'Jersey Boys'
John Lloyd Young's professional career is all over the place. He's acted in numerous off-Broadway productions, he's sung at the Café Carlyle, he has a new R&B-flavored album called "My Turn ...", his pop art sculptures are represented by the Hamilton-Selway Gallery in West Hollywood, and he was recently appointed by Barack Obama to the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities. One other note: He originated – and won a Tony Award for – the role of the Four Seasons lead singer Frankie Valli in the Broadway production of "Jersey Boys," has played the part about 1,400 times, and is now starring as Valli in Clint Eastwood's film version. Young, 38, a Brown University graduate, spoke about a little bit of everything by phone from Minneapolis last week.
Q. What were you doing just before you got the play and then just before you got the movie?
A. Just before I got the play I had great success with a stage adaptation of Chaim Potok's novel "The Chosen." It was a very happy time for me as an actor because I played the Hassidic character Danny Saunders, a role that's very different from me. And I played opposite Theodore Bikel, who was theater royalty. I learned a lot from him. I did the first two years of "Jersey Boys" on Broadway, then went on to other things. But before the movie started ramping up, the "Jersey Boys" producers on Broadway asked me if I wanted to come back for a stint, and I said yes. So I was playing the role on Broadway again at precisely the time when Clint Eastwood got attached. He was going around the country looking at different productions, and he came to a matinee performance of it in New York. I met him after the show, he told me he totally enjoyed my performance, I told him I was glad he was there, and the next time I met him was on his set. That [talk] had functioned as my audition and I didn't even know it.
Q. When you do a play, you can tweak things every night. What were your thoughts about getting to do one film performance that would be captured for posterity?
A. It was actually a real relief. When you do a stage performance you're tied to one script and it's the same direction and the same staging every time. You get to know your character very well, but there's a sort of pressure building up. You get new insights into your character but you still have the same script, and you have no place to express them. So when I got the chance to do the film I was just so relieved that I would have a place to put those extra insights. I was able to let that character psychologically emerge more than I could onstage.
Q. Was it a big difference working with a film director rather than a stage director?
A. Absolutely. When you're building something in theater you try things different ways during rehearsal; you do scenes over and over again until you and the director and the cast are satisfied, then you kind of set it in stone and take that to the stage, and it doesn't change much. With the film, we rehearsed for 40 days. You get the raw material and try things in different ways, and then the director and his editors choose the pieces that work for them and they end up telling your story, which to me was fascinating to see.
Q. Do you think of yourself as an actor who can sing or a singer who can act?
A. I can do both, but I prefer to do them separately. I prefer to either be in a concert, singing songs, or to act a role. The thing about "Jersey Boys" is that the Broadway experience afforded me the opportunity to do both in the same show. I was playing a singer. So when I was singing I was in concert or a recording studio. I didn't have to do that tricky thing where you're singing lyrics as though they're a scene, like in an operatic way. I don't have any problem with that. I just don't enjoy doing it as much as I enjoy acting by itself and singing by itself.
Q. There's a scene in the movie where Frankie plays directly to the red-headed girl in a club. When you were onstage, did you find yourself playing to audience members or feeding on the audience's energy during songs?
A. One of the reasons people love "Jersey Boys" so much is that the audience is a character in the story. When you're in concert the audience that's there that night is your stand-in for the concert audience that you're imagining in the play. So as the character Frankie, you're actually playing off the audience that's in front of you, and it deeply involves them.
Q. Are the film offers already lining up?
A. The doors to those sorts of things are definitely opening, and I'm looking forward to see what the future holds.


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Office Phone:
View Phone Number
(732) 528-3700
View Phone Number
(732) 528-3833
Ward Wight Sotheby's International Realty
208 East Main StreetManasquan, NJ 08736
View my Additional Website
To find the right neighborhood, focus on areas that meet your needs, budget and personal taste. You should also spend time talking with your real estate agent and researching different neighborhoods before making a final decision.
Whether it's a tree-lined street of historic homes or a new golf course community in the suburbs, good neighborhoods often share common traits such as access to employment, shopping, transportation and good schools. Other important factors include things like parks, low crime and evidence that residents take pride in their area. Quality neighborhoods have residents that are interested in improving both their neighborhood and community.
Your ideal neighborhood should be a place where you feel at home and that makes your daily life easier to manage. But how do you find the right place--especially if you're relocating from out of town? A great place to start is with your real estate agent, who can help you identify areas that fit your needs, while also providing advice about schools, community services and property taxes. If you don't have an agent, try using the "Find an Agent" feature of this website. Agents who advertise in Homes & Land Magazine are great resources for information about their communities.
One of the best ways to research a neighborhood is by simply walking down the street and introducing yourself to residents. Ask them what they like best about the area, and if there are any problems you might not be aware of. Do they have a neighborhood association? Is there a strong sense of community? Are homes holding their value? You should also visit prospective neighborhoods at various times of day. Some areas may not feel as safe at night, or you may find that your quiet neighborhood turns into a speedway during the weekday rush hour commute.
With today's renewed interest in urban revitalization, many areas that were once run down are being transformed into vibrant and fashionable neighborhoods. But because these areas may still have pockets of blight, they are often referred to as "transitional" neighborhoods. As a potential homebuyer in a transitional area, you should carefully evaluate the neighborhood by talking with your real estate agent about important factors such as infrastructure improvements, property values and safety issues. Positive evidence of revitalization includes homes being painted, landscaping improvements, and signs that businesses are relocating to the area.
Because they haven't had time to fully mature, new developments are often a bit more difficult to research than established neighborhoods. Nevertheless, many of the same factors (e.g. employment, transit, schools) that apply to traditional neighborhoods are just as important in newly developed areas. You should also pay special attention to the zoning and transportation planning for any undeveloped areas nearby. After all, you don't want your peaceful home in the suburbs to later end up next door to the parking lot for a new shopping center.


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Charles Krauthammer: Revenge, American-style on the playing field
WASHINGTON – Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord. And although retribution shall surely come in the fullness of time, a ballplayer can only wait so long.
Accordingly, when Boston slugger David Ortiz came to bat against Tampa Bay's David Price at the end of May – for the first time this season – Price fired the very first pitch, a 94 mile-an-hour fastball, square into Ortiz's back.
Ortiz was not amused. Hesitation, angry smile, umpire's warning. Managers screaming, tempers flaring. Everyone knew this was no accident.
On Oct. 5, 2013, Ortiz had hit two home runs off Price. Unusual, but not unknown. Except that after swatting the second, Ortiz stood at home plate seeming to admire his handiwork, watching the ball's majestic arc into the far right field stands – and only then began his slow, very slow, trot around the bases.
This did not sit well with Price. He yelled angrily at Ortiz to stop showboating and start running.
But yelling does not quite soothe the savage beast. So, through the fall and long winter, through spring training and one-third of the new season, Price nursed the hurt. Then, as in a gentleman's pistol duel, at first dawn he redeemed his honor.
Except that the other guy had no pistol.
Which made for complications: further payback (Tampa Bay star Evan Longoria received a close retaliatory shave and two other players were hit before the game was done); major mayhem in the form of the always pleasing, faintly ridiculous, invariably harmless bench-clearing brawl; and all-around general ill feeling. After the game, Ortiz declared himself at war with Price, advising the louse to prepare for battle at their next encounter.
Price feigned innocence. As did his Yoda-like manager, Joe Maddon, who dryly observed that a slugger like Ortiz simply has to be pitched inside, then added with a twinkle, "Of course, that was a little bit too far inside."
Yeah, like two feet.
What is so delightful about this classic act of revenge is both the length of the fuse -- eight months! -- and the swiftness of the execution: one pitch, one plunk, one message delivered. Revenge as it was meant to be: cathartic, therapeutic, clean, served cold. No talking it through. No sublimation by deep breathing, reason or anything in between. No arbitration, no mediation. "Direct action," as the left might put it.
Think of it, compact and theatrical, as a highly abridged "Count of Monte Cristo," still the most satisfying revenge novel of all time. There the fuse is deliciously long – the 14 years our betrayed hero suffers and broods on an island prison before escaping – and the execution is spectacularly elaborate: the decade developing a new identity with which to entrap his betrayers and bring each to a tortured demise.
I suspect what makes revenge so satisfying in both literature and sport is that, while the real thing can turn rather ugly, revenge thusly mediated can be experienced not just vicariously but schematically.
After all, there is nothing satisfying about watching a well-armed real-world thug like Vladimir Putin chew up neighboring countries to avenge the Soviet collapse of 1991. Or the Crimean giveaway of 1954. Or was it Czar Nicholas' misadventure of 1917-18?
Even benign dreams of restoration can be a bit unsettling. Ever seen a Quebec license plate? "Je me souviens." In English, "I remember." What? The Battle of the Plains of Abraham, marking the fall of Quebec to Britain – in 1759.
The response became known centuries later as "la revanche des berceaux." Revenge of the cradles. They multiplied. Quietly. Determinedly. A serious exercise in making love, not war.
But the amorous Quebecois are the exception. More common are the savage retributive habits of the more tribal elements of the human family. The Serbs, for example, waging late 20th-century war suffused with fury at the Turkish conquest of Kosovo, 1389. Or Ayman al-Zawahiri calling for infidel blood with an invocation of Andalusia, lost to Islam in 1492.
We Americans, children of so young a country, can barely fathom such ineradicable grievances. We did give the world Tonya Harding and the Godfather's horse's head in the bed, but the best we can do outside sport and fiction is "Remember the Alamo." Wonderful sentiment, but with Mexico now a best buddy, hardly a battle cry.
No. We'll do our vengeance on the playing field, thank you, where unwritten rules apply and the frisson can be enjoyed with Bud in hand. So mark your calendar. Next Sox-Rays encounter: July 25. Here's hoping Price is pitching.
Charles Krauthammer is a columnist for the Washington Post, email email@example.com.


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Monongahela Edges Out Schuylkill to Win Pa. River of the Year
Washington PA
Observer Reporter
2 February 2013
By Andy McNeil, Staff Writer
Overcoming its battered reputation as a polluted, industrial waterway, the Monongahela River has been chosen as Pennsylvania's 2013 River of the Year.
Sponsored by the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and the Pennsylvania Organization for Watersheds and Rivers, the honor has been presented since 1983 as part of a program aiming to elevate public awareness of rivers and recognize conversation efforts. The program also awards a $10,000 grant for community events to the organization that nominated the top river.
This year, Brownsville Area Revitalization Corp., a Fayette County nonprofit working to revitalize the area by bringing people to the water, nominated the Mon.
"Like so many of our great state rivers once sullied by mine drainage and other pollution, the Monongahela is surging back as a vital link to unlimited recreational potential and rich natural and historical resources," said DCNR Secretary Richard Allan. "From the West Virginia border to the heart of Pittsburgh, visitors are rediscovering our newest River of the Year and the scores of historic towns and villages it showcases."
Out of the 25,450 ballots cast, the Mon received 8,156 votes, edging out the Schuylkill River by fewer than 150 votes. This was the third year that online public voting was used to select the winner. The other finalists were the Lackawanna, Kiskiminetas and Juniata rivers, as well as Swatara Creek.
"We had a tremendous about of support from the area," said Norma Ryan, BARC treasurer and former mayor of Brownsville. "It proves how people can really pull together when there is a need."
According to Ryan, BARC plans to use the grant to promote a water trail map that it has been working for years to create as a way to encourage recreational activities along the Mid Mon River. The organization also will partner with the River Town Program, a like-minded project of the Pennsylvania Environmental Council, in an effort to bring folks to waterfront communities through walking and paddling tours, as well as gatherings similar to the Mon Ducky Race.
"Sometimes we take for granted the things that are right in front of our noses," Ryan said.
By filling in the gap between existing maps of the Three Rivers and Upper Mon, BARC hopes to bolster tourism in the Mid Mon and preserve the area's history.
"There's such a story to be told on this river," Ryan said.
Sara Goot, an AmeriCorps participant and 2012 Penn State alumna who completed BARC's nominating application, said the geographic data has been pieced together, and she is now finishing up the map's accompanying guide. The map will include icons that show dock locations and other features, such as restaurants and landmarks, for communities along the Mid Mon.
"It's a giant step in the process that is changing the reputation of the river," Goot said.
An area map maker who created other nearby water trail maps has been tapped to produce final design. Ultimately, BARC plans to print 15,000 to 20,000 maps to distribute to communities along the river.
Fellow 2012 Penn State grad Jamie Brackman, an AmeriCorps VISTA member who has been helping BARC with grant writing, said paddling trips can be an economic boon for river communities, but many aren't taking advantage of such activities.
"The Mon is not just an industrial river or a dead river like some people say, but it's a living river that can be used for recreation," he said.


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On 2nd term eve, Obama cites commitment to service
WASHINGTON - On the brink of a second term, President Barack Obama invoked Martin Luther King Jr.'s commitment to service Saturday as inauguration-goers flocked to the capital city for a distinctly American celebration including an oath-taking as old as the republic, a splashy parade and partying enough to last four years.
"I think we're on the cusp of some really great things," Vice President Joe Biden predicted for a country still recovering from a deep recession.
Freshly built inaugural stands at the Capitol gleamed white in the sun, and hundreds of chairs for special guests were set out on the lawn that spills down toward the National Mall as the president and vice president began their inauguration weekend.
Julius Cherry, in town from Sacramento, Calif., brought his family to the foot of the Capitol to see the area where their official tickets will let them watch the public ceremonies on Monday.
"There were people who said they'd never vote for an African-American president," the 58-year-old lawyer said. "Now they've voted for him twice, and he won the popular vote and the electoral vote. That says something about his policies and his team."
"And the country," added Cherry's wife, Donna.
Said Erika Goergen, from the Midwest and attending college locally: "It's amazing to be here right now."
Officials estimated that as many as 800,000 people will attend Monday's public ceremonies. That's more than live in the city, if far fewer than the 1.8 million who were at Obama's first inauguration in 2009.
The president made only a glancing reference to race as he spoke at an elementary school not far from the White House after he and first lady Michelle Obama stained a bookcase as part of a national service event organized by the inaugural committee.
"We think about not so much the inauguration, but we think about this is Dr. King's birthday we're going to be celebrating this weekend," the president said.
"He said everybody wants to be first, everybody wants to be a drum major. But if you're going to be a drum major, be a drum major for service, be a drum major for justice, be a drum major for looking out for other people," Obama said of the civil rights leader whose birthday is celebrated as a national holiday on Monday.
Because the date for inauguration set in the Constitution, Jan. 20, falls on a Sunday this year, Obama and Biden were to be sworn in for second terms in separate, private ceremonies on Sunday.
The public ceremonies are set for Monday, when Obama will take the oath of office at noon, then deliver an inaugural address before a large crowd and a national television audience in the millions.
The traditional lunch with lawmakers in the Capitol follows, and the inaugural parade down Pennsylvania Avenue toward the White House. There, a reviewing stand was adorned with the presidential seal and equipped with seats enough for Obama and other dignitaries to watch in relative comfort as military units, marching bands, floats and thousands of participants go past. A pair of inauguration balls will cap the day, including one with a guest list that runs to 40,000 names.
A select few - those who donated as much as $1 million to defray inauguration expenses - received special access to public as well as invitation-only receptions and parties.
The second term begins in circumstances different in many ways from the first, but familiar in others.
The economy, then in the grip of a fierce and deepening recession, is now recovering slowly as unemployment recedes and stocks flirt with five-year highs. The health care legislation that Obama urged Congress to enact in his first inaugural address is the law of the land, courtesy of a split ruling by the Supreme Court.
Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden is dead at the hands of U.S. special operations forces. But the organization he inspired is far from moribund, as demonstrated by the just-ended kidnapping episode Saturday at an Algerian natural gas complex that, according to the Algerian government, left at least 23 hostages dead. The U.S. on Friday acknowledged one American death.
When Obama took office in 2009, his Democratic allies held control of Congress.
Now, divided government rules, and Republicans who control the House lead the way in insisting the administration agree to spending cuts that will reduce soaring federal deficits. Obama has said he is ready to compromise on that.
At the outset of a second term, he also wants Congress to overhaul the nation's immigration laws and take steps to reduce gun violence in the wake of the shooting last month in Newtown., Conn., that left 20 elementary school children dead.
Yet for once, politics seemed to edge ever so slightly into the background in the most political of cities.
Former first daughter Chelsea Clinton headlined a National Day of Service gathering under a tent on the National Mall, where she said she had been inspired by her grandmother, as well as her famous parents. She urged her audience to become part of a "chain of service" by helping the less fortunate.
Biden and his wife, Jill, spent time at an armory pitching in as volunteers packed 100,000 care kits for deployed members of the military, wounded warriors, veterans and first responders.
Biden credited former President George H. W. Bush, a Republican, for starting the "Points of Light" program, which was a sponsor of the event. He said service was an antidote to "the coarsening of our culture. We've got to get back to reaching out to people."
In the evening, Mrs. Obama and Mrs. Biden were hosting the Kids' Inaugural Concert, an event paying special tribute to military spouses and children.
Associated Press writers Darlene Superville, Laurie Kellman and Frederic J. Frommer contributed to this report.


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Obama administration sues S&P over pre-crisis mortgage ratings
The Obama administration on Tuesday accused Standard & Poor's of refusing to warn investors that the housing market was collapsing in 2006 because it would be bad for business.
The civil charges against the credit rating agency were the administration's most aggressive action to date against those deemed responsible for contributing to the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. They followed years of criticism that the government had failed to do enough.
The Justice Department accused S&P of knowingly inflating its ratings of risky mortgage investments that helped trigger the crisis. It's demanding $5 billion in penalties.
According to the lawsuit, S&P gave high marks to the investments because it wanted to earn more business from the banks that issued them.
"This alleged conduct is egregious — and it goes to the very heart of the recent financial crisis," Attorney General Eric Holder said at a news conference.
Experts said the lawsuit could serve as a template for future action against Fitch and Moody's, the other two major credit rating agencies.
High ratings from the three agencies made it possible for banks to sell trillions in risky investments. Some investors, including pension funds, can buy only securities that carry high credit ratings.
S&P, a unit of New York-based McGraw-Hill Cos., called the lawsuit "meritless."
"Hindsight is no basis to take legal action against the good-faith opinions of professionals," the company said in a statement. "Claims that we deliberately kept ratings high when we knew they should be lower are simply not true."
According to the lawsuit, S&P recognized that home prices were sinking and that borrowers were having trouble repaying loans. Yet these facts weren't reflected in the safe ratings S&P gave to complex real-estate investments known as mortgage-backed securities and collateralized debt obligations, the lawsuit alleges.
At least one S&P executive who had raised concerns about the company's proposed methods for rating investments was ignored.
S&P executives expressed concern that lowering the ratings on some investments would anger the clients selling these investments and drive new business to S&P's rivals, the government claims.
Holder called the case "an important step forward in our ongoing efforts to investigate and punish the conduct that is believed to have contributed to the worst economic crisis in recent history."
The $5 billion in penalties the government is demanding would amount to several times the annual revenue of McGraw-Hill's Standard & Poor's Ratings division. The ratings business generated $1.77 billion in revenue in 2011. McGraw-Hill's total revenue was $6.25 billion.
The fraudulent ratings contributed to the failure of a California credit union that required a multibillion dollar government bailout, the lawsuit said. It said Western Federal Corporate Credit Union bought the investments because of S&P's endorsement.
Western Federal was among five wholesale credit unions that regulators took over in 2009 and 2010. To wind them down, the National Credit Union Administration borrowed $11.2 billion from the Treasury. It's repaid about $6.1 billion. The agency said the costs will be paid by the credit union industry and Treasury will be fully repaid.
Critics complained that the government's action Tuesday involves civil rather than criminal charges. Criminal charges, which would carry the possibility of jail time, would be harder to prove.
Former Sen. Ted Kaufman, D-Del., who served on a panel that investigated the financial crisis, argued that actions by S&P and its employees amounted to criminal fraud.
"If you're selling something that you're saying has a certain level of safety, and you know it doesn't have that level of safety, that's fraud," Kaufman said.
He said big civil fines just end up hurting shareholders.
"The executives, the folks that did it, aren't going to pay anything," Kaufman said.
A lack of stronger evidence probably prevented Justice from seeking criminal charges against the company or its employees, said Jacob Frenkel, a lawyer formerly with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Still, the complexity of the case could make it a model for future lawsuits against the other rating agencies, he said.
"I think the S&P case is likely to be a template for use against the other rating agencies as long as the government believes it has the evidence to make its case," Frenkel said.
Joining the Justice Department in the announcement were attorneys general from California, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Iowa and Mississippi, who have filed or will file separate, similar civil fraud lawsuits against S&P. Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen said that by the end of Tuesday, 16 states and D.C. will have sued S&P.
According to the lawsuit, S&P didn't issue a mass downgrade of subprime-backed securities until mid-2007, even though it knew in 2006 that many borrowers were struggling or failing to make payments.
The mortgages were faring so poorly "that analysts initially thought the data contained typographical errors," according to the lawsuit.
In a 2007 email, another analyst said some at S&P wanted to downgrade mortgage investments earlier, "before this thing started blowing up. But the leadership was concerned of p(asterisk)ssing off too many clients and jumping the gun ahead of Fitch and Moody's."
The complaint includes a trove of embarrassing emails and other evidence that S&P analysts recognized the market's problems early.
In 2007, for example, an analyst who was reviewing mortgage bundles forwarded a video of himself singing and dancing to a song written to the tune of "Burning Down the House": "Going — all the way down, with/Subprime mortgages." The video showed colleagues laughing at his performance.
Critics have long argued that the rating agencies operate with a conflict of interest: They're paid by the banks that create the investments they're rating. If one agency appeared too strict, banks could shop around for a better rating.
S&P typically charged up to $150,000 for rating a subprime mortgage-backed security and up to $750,000 for certain other securities, the lawsuit says. If S&P lost the business to Fitch or Moody's, its main rivals, the analyst who issued the rating would have to submit a "lost deal" memo explaining why he or she lost the business.
An analyst complained in 2004 that S&P had lost a deal because its standards for a rating were stricter than Moody's. "We need to address this now in preparation for the future deals," the analyst wrote.
The documents "make clear that the company regularly would 'tweak,' 'bend,' delay updating or otherwise adjust its ratings models to suit the company's business needs," said acting Associate Attorney General Tony West.
S&P countered that the emails were "cherry picked," that they were "taken out of context, are contradicted by other evidence, and do not reflect our culture, integrity or how we do business."
It said analysts' concerns were addressed before a rating was issued and that the government left out important context.
The ratings "reflected our current best judgments," S&P said in its statement. It noted that other agencies gave the same high ratings and said the government also failed to predict the subprime mortgage crisis.
The lawsuit comes just 18 months after S&P cut its rating on long-term U.S. government debt by a notch. The downgrade followed a contentious debate between the White House and Congress over the raising of the government's borrowing limit that was resolved at the last hour.
Holder was asked about a possible link between the lawsuit and the downgrade.
"There's no connection," Holder said. He added that the department's investigation began in 2009.
But Michael Robinson, a former communications official at the SEC, said that while all three major rating agencies have lost credibility since the financial crisis, S&P's downgrade of U.S. debt put a bull's-eye on its back.
"Once you get on the government's radar, it's hard to get off scot-free," Robinson said.
The government charged S&P under a law intended to make sure banks invest safely. If S&P is found to have committed civil violations, it could face not only fines but also limits on how it does business.
McGraw-Hill shares closed down nearly 11 percent Tuesday. On Monday, after the lawsuit was first reported, they plunged nearly 14 percent.
Shares of Moody's Corp., the parent of Moody's Investors Service, another rating agency, lost nearly 9 percent Tuesday after closing down nearly 11 percent Monday.
Christina Rexrode reported from New York. AP writers Pete Yost and Marcy Gordon in Washington and AP Business Writer Bree Fowler in New York contributed to this report.


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Tomorrow! I can barely contain myself. In the meantime, here's DA Mom's round-up of important information for tomorrow's actions in New York City.
The May Day NYC website has a schedule of events, list of participating organizations, links to other locations' actions, and other useful tidbits.
If you use Twitter, some of the hashtags to follow will be #MayDay, #M1NYC, #M1GS, #GeneralStrike, #99PKTS, #May1, #OWS, #MTA, #NYPD, #NYC. Tweeters who usually have good info include @OWSTactical, @DiceyTroop, @sabokitty, @OccupySteve, @_girlalex, @OWSBC, @PoweredByCats, @occutine, @TimCast, @OccupyWallSt, @OccupyWallStNYC. Your dear librarians tweet, as always, from @OWSLibrary.
Streamers work from two places, UStream and LiveStream. On UStream, try stopmotionsolo, pinkladies, timcast, occupiedair, or owsnyclive. On LiveStream, try owshdtv.
If that's not enough media for you, there's also May Day Radio and Media For the 99%.
Enough of that. On to dressing and packing! It's going to be a long day, the weather might not be great, there's going to be a lot of long walks, and the cops are going to be heavy-handed. That said, some of your decisions can be made based on your risk level; if you'll be in green zones all day you might dress differently than if you'll be going red. A longer check-list is here. My advice:
- Comfy, sturdy, water-proof or -resistant shoes, such as hiking boots.
- Full-length pants.
- A couple upper-body layers that are breathable & will still keep you warm if damp. I'll be wearing light wool.
- It might rain in the morning, consider a light rain coat that can be stuffed in a bag when the weather clears.
- If you have the space, carry some clothes that allow you to khaki-flage or go civilian. Or, dress that way in the first place. For example, I might pack a blouse and a pair of loafers, and wear corduroys instead of jeans. That way I can look "normal" in a rush-hour crowd or look business-casual if I end up doing jail support later in the day.
- Do not bring anything that you aren't ok with loosing.
- Do not wear contact lenses. Really.
- Don't wear earrings, necklaces, etc. that could be grabbed and ripped off.
- Don't wear makeup or put on lotion — pepper spray sticks to it.
- Wear long hair so that it can't easily be grabbed, such as in a bun.
- Smaller bags, worn close to the body, are better. Harder to grab, and lighter.
- Water and calorie-dense snacks (Clif Bars, nuts, dried fruit, pastries).
- If you expect to be in yellow or red zones, consider a couple bandanas (mind the masking laws!), leather work gloves, air-tight goggles. Some of this stuff is really specific to the kinds of less-than-lethal weapons your local police force likes to use; for example, tear gas canisters are hot, so you need gloves to
throw them backhandle them, but aren't a thing we've seen NYPD use. [By the way, canisters are easily dealt with by either putting a bucket over them or submersing them in water. Just saying.]
- Cell phone & camera. Bring an extra battery and charging cables.
- Carry a valid government-issued ID, if you have one. You don't legally have to, but you might get out of jail faster.
- DO NOT bring anything that can incriminate you or people connected to you. Weapons, drugs you don't have a prescription for (bring a doctor's note or prescription if you have legal drugs), your address book, etc. Delete interesting photos from your phone or camera. If you are arrested the cops will go through all your stuff very carefully.
There're a few important phone numbers. These are New York City specific. The National Lawyers Guild (those are the folks in the green hats) is 212-679-6018. Jail Support Coordination is 774-257-4697. Medic dispatch is 917-727-8621. If you haven't already committed the NLG number to memory, write it on yourself in Sharpie, somewhere that clothes and sweat won't rub it off. I go with the inside of my calf. Especially if you will be in red zones, also consider writing an emergency contact number and medical info (blood type, allergies, etc) on your body, in case you get the shit beaten out of you. If you witness arrests, or are arrested yourself, call the NLG to report it. Try to get arrestees' names, so that we can find them later at precincts and central booking. If not, give a good description, or at the very least a head-count. If someone near you is injured, yell "medic!" as loud as you can.
Lastly, we know that the cops are mostly a bunch of jerks who don't like to uphold the law when it's inconvenient to do so. Which means, while there are laws about where we can be and what we can do, it doesn't mean we won't be arrested for trying to do those supposedly legal things. Signs, standing on the sidewalk, running, dancing, saying mean things, et fucking cetera, have all gotten folks arrested lately. That said, there are some things you can do to decrease your chance of arrest, or at least give yourself a stronger case in court.
Know your rights! The NY Civil Liberties Union has a lot of information, but I'll also sum it up for you. As we said at summer camp, this is a repeat-after-me song; as you read this paragraph, repeat the things you might have to say a few times out loud. If police stop you, ask, "Am I free to go?" If they say yes, leave; if they say no, ask "Am I being detained?" If they say no, leave; if they say yes, holler for legal and media. If cops try to search you, say, "I do not consent to this search." They'll probably still search you, but anything they find may not then be admissible in court. Of course, if they have a warrant, they can search you and it'll be admissible, no matter what you say; in that case, demand to see the warrant, don't let them bullshit you. This also applies if cops show up at your door. Do not let them in — don't even open the door! — unless they show you a warrant with all the correct information on it. Other than the above, the only other thing you should ever say to a cop (or other law enforcement agent) is "I am going to remain silent; I would like to speak to a lawyer." You can (and probably should) give them you name and address, but after that, shut up. Really, anything you say can and will be used against you, so zip it! As Safer Spaces said at GA on my first day at the occupation: rule number one, don't talk to cops, rule number two, don't talk to cops! You are allowed to video the cops, including any interactions you have with them. They won't like it, but it's legal and good idea.
A short word on horses — the NYPD likes to bring them out for crowd control on big action days. We may see some tomorrow. Horses are naturally disinclined to step on people, though some of that gets trained out of police mounts. So, if you've got some coming at you, and you can't get out of the way, make yourself compact, cover your head, keep your limbs tucked in, and stay still.
So, I'll see y'all in the morning. I plan to eat a good dinner, polish my boots, kiss one of my menfolk, and go to bed early. We've a long day ahead of us.


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911 call reveals more about father's stabbing death
The sister of a Wilmington man charged in the killing of his father was on the phone with dispatchers when the stabbing occurred Thursday.
The 911 call released Friday reveals the teen called 911 to ask for an ambulance for her brother.
"I have a suicidal teenager at 503 Nighthawk Drive. I need an ambulance immediately," the girl said calmly. "He is trying to stab himself."
Ninety seconds later she screams.
"I think he stabbed my dad!"
Corey Eugene Roberts, 20, is charged in the stabbing death of his father, Christopher Eugene Roberts, 52.
Wilmington Police Department Lt. Tom Witkowski said the father and son argued in the backyard of the family's Nighthawk Drive home before the 6:45 p.m. stabbing.
"Basically they had a disagreement, the son was irate about something, which we're really not terribly clear on, there was a disagreement, (the) father was trying to calm him down," Witkowski said.
In the 911 recording, before the girl screams about the stabbing, Corey Roberts can be heard cursing in the background.
In another development, Warren Lee, director of the New Hanover County Emergency Management, said Friday that the 911 dispatcher who handled the call may face disciplinary action for how she spoke to the caller. That action could involve a written warning or even termination depending on the employee's disciplinary history.
In a recorded copy of the exchange, the dispatcher sounds curt, repeatedly talking over the caller, who is obviously unsettled and upset.
"Ma'am, calm down for me. You're not helping anybody by being out of control," the dispatcher said at one point.
Lee declined to name the dispatcher until she returned to work Monday and he had an opportunity to discuss the issue with her and her supervisor.
"Any time an employee on my end raises their voice, it's not appropriate," Lee said, adding that "there were certainly opportunities where we could have done a better job with the way we spoke to the individual on the call."
After the stabbing, Christopher Roberts was taken from the scene with a deep wound to his back from a large kitchen knife, Witkowski said. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.
The younger Roberts, a 2010 graduate and former varsity football player at Hoggard High, was arrested by police in the front yard. According to North Carolina State University's online campus directory, he transferred to the Raleigh college from an unknown school and was majoring in engineering.
The elder Roberts was a retired Coast Guardsman and sold insurance for Aflac. He was active in Wilmington Toastmasters and recently represented the Wilmington club at a regional competition, said Eric Brandt, Area 93 governor for North Carolina District 37 Toastmasters.
"He was probably the quintessential family guy. His speeches were almost always involving family," Brandt said.
On Tuesday, Corey accompanied his father to a 7 a.m. Toastmasters breakfast where Chris was taking part in a speech competition, Brandt said.
"He'd come to watch his dad compete. It just doesn't make sense," Brandt said. "Chris' was the face you would see if you looked up family man in the dictionary. Of all of the people, it appeared that family was the most important thing to him."
In addition to Toastmasters, Chris Roberts was a member of the newly formed WatchDOGS, or Dads of Great Students, a program in which fathers and father figures volunteer at their children's schools. Wilmington's chapter of the national program began last fall at the urging of New Hanover County District Attorney Ben David and county Commissioner Jonathan Barfield.
Corey Roberts appeared in court Friday morning where he was appointed a death-penalty certified public defender. He is being held without bond on a charge of first-degree murder.
Staff Writer Brian Freskos contributed to this report.
F.T. Norton: 343-2070
On Twitter: @FTNorton


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I have been photographing earwigs recently, and this reminded me of another group of hexapods, the members of which often have big, pincer-like cerci, the diplurans. "I'll write a post about them", I thought, "now, let's see what kind of pictures I have." I started looking and located a bunch of shots of diplurans that I took in 2006 in Ghana, but when I tried to open the files I received a Photoshop error telling me that the files were in an unrecognizable format. This usually means that the file is corrupt. Other files opened, but were partially garbled.
"No problem, I'll just get the backup files." Same error. Second backup, same error, third backup, same error. I began to worry. I am pretty good about keeping all my files backed-up, on multiple, physically separated drives, but the system has clearly failed me.
My normal file-saving procedure while in the field is as follows:
1. Copy files from CF/SD cards to the hard drive on my laptop
2. Catalog image files in iViewPro, rename them, discard crappy shots
3. Add keywords and captions to the files
4. Copy the annotated files to two separate, portable hard drives
5. Back home, copy the files from the laptop to a separate, stationary hard drive (HD1)
6. Copy the content of this drive to two additional, separate drives (HD2 & HD3), occasionally I add a fourth drive (HD4) to the lineup.
After this is done I feel that the files are safe, and I reuse the portable hard drives for another project. Until a few years ago I would have also burned DVDs with an extra copy of the files, but as the files got bigger, and more numerous, I abandoned the practice, opting instead for adding another hard drive to the backup.
What must have happened in the case of my corrupt dipluran shots was either a copying error during the process of transferring files from the laptop to HD1 drive, or file corruption on the HD1 following the transfer. Regardless, the damaged files were then duplicated to drives HD2-HD4. So, it seems, all is lost.
Luckily, not. Back in 2006 I still burned DVDs with file backups, using the original files from the laptop as the source. I pulled them out, and sure enough, uncorrupted, original files were there. Alas, going back to using DVDs as a backup is simply not an option. During my recent trip I shot 352GB of images, which translates to 42 DVDs (DVD+R, 8.5GB each), or about 14 hours of burning and swapping DVDs (assuming 20 minutes per disk.) What are my options then?
For one, I will be copying my files from the camera's card simultaneously to at least two separate drives. You can do it directly in the Finder (or Explorer), or use a dedicated program, such as Photo Mechanic (this program also allows for renaming files while copying them.) Second, I will no longer reuse the portable drives that hold the files copied from the cards in the field. These drives are becoming so cheap that they are now a very sensible alternative to large, external, independently powered hard drives (I may even consider keeping the CF/SD cards with the original shots and not reusing them; some photographers already do it.) And third, I will add storage space to my Dropbox account. There is no way I can keep all my photos there, but at least I can safely store the most important shots. The experience of losing some of my original files was a reminder that no single backup method is 100% safe, but hopefully a combination of several methods will reduce the chances of a disaster similar to what I saw today.
As for the diplurans, I think I will need to write another post about them later on. These are very cool animals, close relatives of insects, and they deserve a proper writeup. They have an interesting reproductive behavior and a sophisticated maternal care, and give us a glimpse of what the early chapters of the insect evolution might have looked like.


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After appearing for 3 nights at Vermont's Centennial Park, home of the minor league Vermont Lake Monsters, the racing presidents turned north and crossed the border to pay a visit this morning to Olympic Stadium, the long-time home of the Montreal Expos.
This marks the first time the presidents have left the country.
Teddy provided the photo via Twitter, and Thomas Jefferson is reportedly helping the other presidents get by in french-speaking Quebec.


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Wal-Mart warns suppliers on stricter measures
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has alerted its global suppliers that it will immediately drop them if they subcontract their work to factories that haven't been authorized by the discounter.
Wal-Mart's stricter contracting rule, along with other changes to its policy, comes amid increasing calls for better safety oversight after a deadly fire at a Bangladesh factory that supplied clothing to Wal-Mart and other retailers. The fire in late November killed 112 workers at a factory owned by Tazreen Fashions Ltd. Wal-Mart has said the factory wasn't authorized to make its clothes.
In a letter sent Tuesday to suppliers of its Wal-Mart stores as well as Sam's Clubs in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom, the company says it will adopt a "zero tolerance" policy on subcontracting without the company's knowledge, effective March. 1. Previously, suppliers had three chances to rectify mistakes.
Wal-Mart also said it plans to publish on its corporate website a list of factories that haven't been authorized to manufacture goods for Wal-Mart.
Also, starting June 1, suppliers must have an employee stationed in countries where they subcontract to ensure compliance, rather than relying on third-party agents.
"We want the right accountability and ownership to be in the hands of the suppliers," said Rajan Kamalanathan, Wal-Mart's vice president of ethical sourcing, said in an interview with The Associated Press. "We are placing our orders in good faith."
Wal-Mart will hold a meeting for clothing suppliers from the U.S. and Canada on Thursday to explain the new policy changes.
Kamalanathan said Wal-Mart is looking to create a fund that factories can tao to improve safety, but that is still in discussion. But he also said local governments and other suppliers and retailers have to do their part in boosting factory safety.
Critics quickly dismissed Wal-Mart's moves as inadequate and said that the retailer needs to do more.
"It shows that Wal-Mart is feeling a great deal of pressure in the wake of public scrutiny," said Scott Nova, executive director at Workers' Rights Consortium, a labor-backed advocacy group. But he noted the company's response isn't adequate unless Wal-Mart and others pay their suppliers more so they can cover the costs of repairs.
"The upfront commitment from brands and retailers is essential if we are going to see real change," Nova added.
Nova's group is one of several organizations trying to get retailers and brands to sign a first-of-its-kind contract that would govern fire-safety inspections at thousands of Bangladeshi factories making T-shirts, blazers, and other clothes Americans covet.
The contract would call for companies to publicly report fire hazards at factories, pay factory owners more to make repairs and provide at least $500,000 over two years for the effort. They would also sign a legally binding agreement that would make them liable when there's a factory fire.
PVH Corp., a New York City-based company that sells the Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger brands, last March signed the agreement after a national TV news report that chronicled the dangerous conditions in one of its Bangladesh factories. But PVH pledged to start the program only if at least three other major retailers sign on. So far, only one has: A German coffee chain named Tchibo that also sells clothes. Nova said that his organization is in discussion with other retailers.
Wal-Mart says it has no plans to sign on to the contract. Brooke Buchanan, a Wal-Mart spokeswoman, says that the company can make a "positive impact on our global supply chain by both by raising our own standards and by partnering with other stakeholders to improve the standards for workers across the industry."
Nova also noted that Wal-Mart needs to disclose a list of all the suppliers it currently works with so they can be monitored by independent groups. It also needs to disclose the results of all its factory inspections.
Richard Locke, head of political science at MIT and an expert in global supply chains, said that Wal-Mart also needs to re-evaluate its purchasing practices so its demands are not putting excessive pressure on factories to cut corners on safety. It also needs to provide better technical assistant training for factories so they can run their businesses better.
Wal-Mart ranks second behind Swedish fast fashion retailer H&M in the number of clothing orders it places in Bangladesh. Before the fatal fire there, Wal-Mart had taken steps to address safety, such as mandating fire safety training for all levels of factory management.
Building fires have led to more than 600 garment work deaths in Bangladesh since 2005, according to research by the advocacy group International Labor Rights Forum.


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Video of the Day: Seth Rogen slams Justin Bieber
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Hot video
On Bravo's "Watch What Happens Live," actor Seth Rogen clarified a tweet he posted earlier this year, and shared his real feelings about pop star Justin Bieber.
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Holmes and Watson investigate when an influential cancer researcher is murdered on "Elementary" at 10 p.m. EDT tonight on CBS.
Worst of the day
General Motors was aware of a faulty ignition switch as early as 2001 — three years later than it has previously admitted. The scope of the problem is still not completely clear, but GM has expanded the recall to 1.6 million vehicles, including Chevrolet Cobalt, Pontiac G5, Saturn Ion, Chevrolet HHR, Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky.
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text: A Merry Christmas! I am so pleased to find among my collection a fine example of a glittered embossed postcard by P. Sander Company. Oh, how I wish I knew the ins and outs of scanning to capture three dimensions, for the publishers of this era worked hard to enhance their cards, simply and cheaply, with embossing–raised areas of the painting that create depth! In this 1906 card the red-breasted songsters are heavily embossed atop a snow-covered fence that is less heavily embossed, quickly drawing your eye to the artist's main subject. The holly and snow are not only embossed but glittered, giving the impression that the sun may be peaking out between snow bearing clouds. In the silver embossed background, a riverside town sits in the muffled, snowy silence. Such a beautiful card! A hand delivered Merry Christmas to four year old Donald Minor from May M.


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2012 Primetime Creative Arts Emmys , a set on Flickr.
Mingle Media TV and Red Carpet Report host, JJ Snyder, were invited to come out and cover the 2012 Primetime Creative Arts Emmys held on Saturday, September 15th at Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE. The event will air on Saturday, September 22nd at 8:00pm ET/PT on REELZCHANNEL. Spike Jones, Jr. was back Producer of the Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards.
This year, HBO received the most wins with 17 Creative Emmy Awards with CBS getting 13 and PBS 11. HBO's "Game of Thrones" received six Creative Emmys and followed by "Saturday Night Live," PBS Masterpiece miniseries "Great Expectations," and Discovery Channel's "Frozen Planet" each won four Creative Arts Emmys.
Click here to read our Red Carpet Report with a full list of winners.
The Primetime Creative Emmy® Awards are a part of The 64th Primetime Emmy® Awards presented in recognition of technical and other similar achievements in television programming. They are commonly awarded to behind-the-scenes personnel such as art directors, costume designers, cinematographers, casting directors, and sound editors. The Creative Arts category also includes awards for outstanding animated programs and guest acting.
About The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) is a professional service organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of television and the promotion of creative leadership for artistic, educational and technical achievements within the television industry. For more information, please visit the website at www.emmyonline.tv
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Special thanks to PMK•BNC for inviting us.


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In addition to that call for federal civil rights charges, protesters pushed for an economic boycott of Florida because of the state's Stand Your Ground self-defense law.
Amidst a sea of people there came a call for action.
"The bullet that killed Trayvon woke us up, and we ain't going back to sleep until justice flows down," said Fr. Michael Pfleger, St. Sabina Church.
The gathering in Federal Plaza came exactly a week after a Florida jury found Zimmerman not guilty of murder in the death of 17-year-old Martin.
At the rally, the Reverend Jesse Jackson called for an economic boycott of Florida in the wake of singer Stevie Wonder's announcement that he won't perform in Florida until the state's Stand Your Ground law is repealed.
"No more conventions," Jackson said. "No more spring breaks (until) stand your ground under Florida's laws are abolished."
The Florida case has become a flashpoint in separate but converging national debates over self-defense, guns, and race relations. Zimmerman, who successfully claimed that he was protecting himself when he shot Martin, identifies himself as Hispanic. Martin was black.
"It's personal," said Cincinnati resident Chris Donegan, whose 11-year-old son wore a black hoodie to the rally, as Martin did when he died. "Anybody who is black with kids, Trayvon Martin became our son."
The Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network organized the "Justice for Trayvon" rallies and vigils outside federal buildings in at least 101 cities: from New York and Los Angeles to Wichita, Kan., and Atlanta, where people stood in the rain at the base of the federal courthouse, with traffic blocked on surrounding downtown streets.
Chants rang out across the rallies. "Justice! Justice! Justice! ... Now! Now! Now!" ''We won't forget." ''No justice! No peace!" Many also sang hymns, prayed and held hands.
And plenty of participants carried signs: "Who's next?" "I am Trayvon Martin." ''Enough Is Enough."
Most rallies began at noontime. In New York, hundreds of people - including music superstars Jay-Z and Beyonce, as well as Martin's mother, Sybrina Fulton - gathered in the heat.
Fulton told the crowd she was determined to fight for societal and legal changes needed to ensure that black youths are no longer viewed with suspicion because of their skin color.
"I promise you I'm going to work for your children as well," she said to the rally crowd.
At a morning appearance at Sharpton's headquarters in Harlem, she implored people to understand that the tragedy involved more than Martin alone. "Today it was my son. Tomorrow it might be yours," she said.
In addition to pushing the Justice Department to investigate civil rights charges against Zimmerman, Sharpton told supporters he wants to see a rollback of stand-your-ground self-defense laws.
"We are trying to change laws so that this never, ever happens again," Sharpton said.
Stand-your-ground laws are on the books in more than 20 states, and they go beyond many older, traditional self-defense statutes. In general, the laws eliminate a person's duty to retreat in the face of a serious physical threat.
Zimmerman relied on a traditional self-defense argument and didn't invoke stand-your-ground, though the judge included a provision about it in instructions allowing jurors to consider it as a legitimate defense. And race wasn't discussed in front of the jury. But the two topics have dominated public discourse about the case, and came up throughout Saturday's rallies.
Part of Sharpton's comments echoed those made by President Barack Obama on the case Friday. "Racial profiling is not as bad as segregation, but you don't know the humiliation of being followed in a department store," Sharpton said.
In Indianapolis, the Rev. Jeffrey Johnson told about 200 attendees that the nationwide effort is about making life safer for young black men. Johnson said young black men still are endangered by racial profiling, and he compared Zimmerman's acquittal to that of four white officers in the beating of black motorist Rodney King in 1992.
"The verdict freed George Zimmerman, but it condemned America more," said Johnson, pastor of the Eastern Star Church in Indianapolis and a member of the board of directors of the National Action Network.
In Miami, Tracy Martin spoke about his son.
"This could be any one of our children," he said. "Our mission now is to make sure that this doesn't happen to your child."
He recalled how he vowed to Trayvon as he lay in his casket that he would seek justice.
"I will continue to fight for Trayvon until the day I die," he said.
Shantescia Hill held a sign in Miami that read: "Every person deserves a safe walk home." The 31-year-old mother, who is black, said, "I'm here because our children can't even walk on the streets without fearing for their lives."
In his remarks Friday, Obama said it's a reality for black men in American to "be followed in a department store" while shopping or to walk down the street and "hear the car doors lock." The nation's first black president said he had both experiences before he rose to social and political prominence.
At the New Orleans rally, La'Monte Johnson shared some of the same experiences.
The California native said he's been stopped multiple times by police and handcuffed "because I fit the description of someone they were looking for," though he noted charges were never filed against him.
"You can be the greatest black guy around, but you can't get away from it," he said. "You're not equal."
Attorney General Eric Holder announced this week that his department would investigate whether Zimmerman could be charged under federal civil rights laws. Such a case would require evidence that Zimmerman harbored racial animosity against Martin. Most legal experts say that would be a difficult charge to bring. Zimmerman's lawyers have said their client wasn't driven by race, but by desire to protect his neighborhood.
Holder said the shooting demonstrates the need to re-examine stand-your-ground laws.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.


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Aside from Pomegranate's great selection of specialty cheeses, they have the biggest display of prepackaged cheeses I've seen anywhere.
From such small producers as Karen's Bracha's Cheese Co's, Twisted Mozzarella with Zahatar; or Susan Gourmet's selections of foreign styled cheeses to major producers such as Anderson International Foods cholov Yisroel Natural and Kosher line, their non-cholov Yisroel Les Petites Fermières to Fresh and Healthy, to Tnuva, you'll find them all here.
Sugar River Cheese Co.'s choices are among SYR's favorite American made cheeses, Les Petites Fermières' imported Camembert and Brie are her favorite imports. I've tried some of Fresh and Healthy's Capriccio collection and liked them all. The Cheese Guy also has some delicious cheeses but the company's hechsherim vary by the cheese, be sure to check to make sure the individual hechsher is acceptable to you. Cholov is another company that produces an all time favorite like the Chevrai line of goat milk cheeses.
As a foodie, and expanding on Elizabeth Bland's own blog, I could spend a whole day going and admiring the cheese choices with the same fervor, with the same passion, with the same delight with which I could through a museum filled with masterpieces! But… if you are a regular reader of this blog you already know that, of course.
Whether you are new to the world of cheese, whether you are connoisseur, whether you like raw milk, cow's milk, or goat's milk cheese, Pomegranate's got them all.


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So, today while taking a bath I feel a small lump under my armpit. This is where some lymph nodes were taken out, and pray to God it just has something to do with that. Down deep I am scared out of my mind. I can't think or focus on anything else.
Is this my new reality? Even if it is nothing…is this my life? Poking and prodding…checking for lumps and bumps everyday. Is this anyway to live? It's not.
I'd love to go on a "Why Me" rant about now, but I'll hold off. It is just so frustrating:(


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1 (14 to 16 pound) frozen young turkey
For the brine:
1 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 gallon vegetable stock
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1 1/2 teaspoons allspice berries
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped candied ginger
1 gallon heavily iced water
For the aromatics:
1 red apple, sliced
1/2 onion, sliced
1 cinnamon stick
1 cup water
4 sprigs rosemary
6 leaves sage
Canola oil
Good Eats Roast Turkey
This is the way that I have been making Turkeys since my sister and I started to do the cooking for Christmas and Thanksgiving. It produces a really reliable result that tastes good and is juicy, even if slightly over cooked.
2 to 3 days before roasting:
Begin thawing the turkey in the refrigerator or in a cooler kept at 38 degrees F.
Combine the vegetable stock, salt, brown sugar, peppercorns, allspice berries, and candied ginger in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally to dissolve solids and bring to a boil. Then remove the brine from the heat, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate.
Early on the day or the night before you'd like to eat:
Combine the brine, water and ice in the 5-gallon bucket. Place the thawed turkey (with innards removed) breast side down in brine. If necessary, weigh down the bird to ensure it is fully immersed, cover, and refrigerate or set in cool area for 8 to 16 hours, turning the bird once half way through brining. I use a Home Depot paint bucket that I purchased just for this use.
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Remove the bird from brine and rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard the brine.
Place the bird on roasting rack inside a half sheet pan and pat dry with paper towels.
Combine the apple, onion, cinnamon stick, and 1 cup of water in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 5 minutes. Add steeped aromatics to the turkey's cavity along with the rosemary and sage. Tuck the wings underneath the bird and coat the skin liberally with canola oil.
Using tinfoil make a triangle shield for the breast of the turkey, set this aside. Roast the turkey on lowest level of the oven at 500 degrees F for 30 minutes. Insert a probe thermometer into thickest part of the breast and reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Also place the previously made shield on the breast. Set the thermometer alarm (if available) to 161 degrees F. A 14 to 16 pound bird should require a total of 2 to 2 1/2 hours of roasting. Let the turkey rest, loosely covered with foil or a large mixing bowl for 15 minutes before carving.


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Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe is magnificently beautiful, especially at dawn and dusk when the clouds reflect a full spectrum of colors across the shimmering water. I've been blessed to live near Lake Tahoe since 2006, which is right about when I really got serious about photography. I was originally inspired to photograph the Lake by a photo taken by Elizabeth Carmel of Bonsai Rock. I've now got my own parking place right by the trail that meanders steeply down to the shoreline.Read More


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- Rock * MN Music
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The Phones
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15 oz Brilliant White Ceramic Mug
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Delivery Charge: $8.50 for the first mug and $.50 for each additional mug in the same order. Delivery charge will be computed at check out.


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|Creating one of the McGinnis Memory Books
The immigrant ancestor John McGinnis had 7 sons and 2 daughters that I've found so far, and most of them left Canada to settle in the USA. I'm sure you get the idea of how much data I have now on each generation of each branch!
Recently I decided it was time to organize and preserve my research - documents, photos and so on. I've wanted to do this for a very long time but keep re-thinking and changing my ideas on how best to accomplish this.
Finally last month I decided it was time. Make a decision and go with it! And I'm pleased to say that I've done that with the help of Shutterfly.
Making Decisions
My first decision was that these books are just for family. So I am comfortable with showing photos, documents and information for living people.
My second decision was that I would create one book (volume) for each generation starting with my father and working backwards.
Normally this is the stage of the process where I start second-guessing myself. I end up with several different ideas on how to best create the book(s) and as a result - I become bogged down in minutia and am unable to forge ahead!
With the encouragement of my husband who simply shrugged his shoulders and repeated (often) "Just set it up how YOU like it and do it!" I was able to minimize the internal "maybe this way is better" agonizing that I usually face.
Creating Different Volumes Within One Surname
My final decision was to create one title that would be used for each volume, and number the volumes starting with my father and working backwards. I know - one would normally number from the immigrant ancestor coming down the generations. But unlike my usual flip-flop over what was best, I simply made the decision and went with it. No looking bad, no second-guessing, no "gee I wish I'd done xxx instead of yyy" It was liberating!
Having one book for each generation worked well for me. I forged ahead quite quickly, gathering my scattered documents and photos, uploading them to Shutterfly into "albums", one album for each volume I planned to create, and then inserting them into the appropriate books.
Using Albums in Shutterfly
A hard lesson I learned after creating dozens of other books in Shutterfly was to carefully and precisely name my albums where my photos and documents were being uploaded. I had not done this, instead leaving the default name/label which was simply the dates of the upload. That meant that I had to look through dozens of albums every time I wanted to move more photos from the albums to my books!
It took me awhile to figure out how to rename albums in Shutterfly so I urge you to name them with an identifier immediately. You can see in this photo on the right that I have not finished renaming all my original albums.
Organizing Pages Within the Book
I kept it simple. I started with the marriage of my grandparents, then the birth record of my father. The next several pages were devoted to information, photos and documents that pertained to my dad, up to his death. Items were placed chronologically for ease of reading. The nice thing about Shutterfly is that it is easy to rearrange pages if you need to add or move a page.
I allowed 2 pages for some photos of myself and my siblings, but I already have a book I created about us so I didn't need to go into details in this project.
After my dad's section was complete, I created pages for each of his siblings. Some siblings only have one page as I don't have much information on them. Some have many pages.
Consistency & Organization
|Backgrounds for my book theme
My plan listed what fonts and text colours I wanted to use. I chose one book style (theme) to use for each volume. I listed my method of organizing within each book - parents, then child who was my direct ancestor, then siblings of direct ancestor.
As I began to create each volume, I listed what records I had, and what I should get if I didn't already have it. This included census records, vital statistics and so on. Then as I added those documents I ticked them off on my list.
This is the most organized I've ever been on a project and it helped me to finish two volumes very quickly. The photo you see above is the volume for my great-grandparent Alex McGinnis and I'm almost finished! The volume for my dad has been ordered. The volume for my grandfather is done but not ordered. I'm amazed at how quickly these are coming together, and very excited to carry on with other family surnames.


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Today in the news: Jonathan Winters remembered
News to know
Comedian Jonathan Winters has died at 87, The Associated Press reports. Winters made frequent appearances on "The Tonight Show" when it was hosted by Jack Paar and appeared in the 1963 film "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" with other stars including Spencer Tracy, Ethel Merman and Mickey Rooney. He won an Emmy for his role on the TV show "Davis Rules" and two Grammys for his work on "The Little Prince" and his comdey album "Crank Calls." He also portrayed the son of Robin William's Mork on "Mork and Mindy." A family friend said Winters died of natural causes at his home, surrounded by family and friends.
Quote of note
"I would say ahead of time that it is a huge mistake for him to choose to do that because it will further isolate his country and further isolate his people, who frankly are desperate for food, not missile launches." - Secretary of State John Kerry, according to Reuters. Kerry warned North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that it would be a "big mistake" to test launch a nuclear missile, and that the U.S. would never accept the country as a nuclear power.
Hot video: Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke fractures collar bone in bench-clearing brawl
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Umbala Lace Yarn
Worldwide Knit in Public Day 2019
10 Monday Jun 2019
Original size at 3024 × 4032
my beautiful chaos
All things crochet inspired by coastal living...
Musings of all things knitting, crafts and associated loveliness.
Ideas, Inspiration and Instruction... all thought of while walking my dogs.
Random thoughts as I muddle through life....
Looking for answers to life's questions
A blog containing random thoughts, bits of life, creations from my art room and tales of a cat named Orlando and a puppy named Siddy
the joy of creativity
Wool, Wiltshire and All Manner of Wonderful Things!
Everyday craft inspirations
Teaching and Learning One Stitch at a Time
Sew What... Sewing, Embroidery and handmade
my year of trying to be more creative in different ways
Knitting Patterns by Cheryl Toy
k n i t t i n g is my c h o c o l a t e
All sorts of lovely things!
crafting,dachshunds including other bits & bobs


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Over the last few weeks, I have authored a three-part series on the Situational Sources of Evil (see Parts I, II, and III). In that series, I describe how people too often miss the power of situation in explaining evil, and too often attribute "evil" to a person or group. The post below begins a two-part series on how situation can lead any of us to partake in what we would consider "evil" behavior, a fact that runs in stark contrast to how we conceive ourselves as moral and good persons.
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The poet John Milton gave highest praise to the human mind when he wrote in Paradise Lost, "The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven." I have been celebrating that mental agility for most of my life, as a research psychologist for the past fifty years, but even before that as a child of only five years. Before I describe how I helped to transform the paradise that is Palo Alto, California, and Stanford University, into a hell on earth for a group of college students that I imprisoned in a dramatic experiment, allow me first to note briefly how I also mentally transformed a living hell into my optimistic heaven.
Having developed the contagious disease of whooping cough compounded by double pneumonia, I was sent to Willard Parker Hospital, on the east side of Manhattan, to join hundreds of other poor kids suffering from every conceivable contagious disease. It was winter 1939, before the advent of wonder drugs, penicillin or sulfa, that would have helped us to survive. It was also an era before exercise was valued, so we lay in our cots day and night, never allowed to stand or stretch, or do anything that might disturb the nurses. There was no TV, of course, but also no radio or music or telephones or games or anything to do except to read comic books. Parents were restricted to visiting only a few hours on Sundays, when they were able to brave the long walk from the subway in winter storms. When they could not come, they couldn't call to let their desperately lonely children know they would surely come next week. And naturally, we all worried that they might forget where we were. When they did come, we were separated by a huge glass wall, across which we tried to touch or kiss against before the nurses noticed and forbade this minimal moment of intimacy. Because kids were coughing and wheezing constantly, the nurses all wore masks, and had learned to harden themselves against getting emotionally involved with any of us; a kind of "detached concern" for their welfare charges.
And then night fell. Having not done anything all day but reread comic books, no one was tired, but lights were out promptly at 8 PM, and we had to pretend to sleep. It was hard to sleep, with so much noise from the constant crying and coughing, and with the black figures that slithered across the walls as the light from the nurses' station projected scary shadows. We knew it was the Devil coming to look us over for his wicked selections. The kids around my bed all agreed never to say that dumb prayer, "Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep; If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take." It did not matter whether we said it or not, when morning finally arrived, "Billy had gone home," or "Johnny's folks came to take him home." Kids died in a game of genetic roulette, without medication or health savvy treatment. But we all formed a silent conspiracy of denial among nurses and kids, to deny the reality of death taking us one by one. It was the only way we could sustain hope of ever being released alive. We knew that "going home" was really going to your grave, but we suppressed that ominous thought and replaced it with visions of our departed friends back home riding their bicycles, playing stickball, or just having fun. And we desperately imagined that when our turn came to go home, we would really go home and not go there.
I endured this nightmare for 5 months, through Christmas, New Years, my birthday in March, and eventually, magically, I was paroled right after Easter. When my parents tried to comfort me for the suffering I endured, I accepted none of those tears and sympathy. I had erected a different frame for the picture of poor little Philip – I had a great time in that charity ward at Willard Parker Hospital! I made lots of close friends, I learned to read and write before I went to school, I learned to ingratiate myself with the nurses using compliments to get extra pats of butter or sugar, and I developed leadership skills by being able to come up with interesting group games we could play from our dozens of beds, like we were a navy sailing down the Nile in search of the magic white crocodile. In my mind, I continued to make a heaven of this hell for many years afterwards, until the spell was broken when I confronted one of my students in a hospital dying of AIDS. But that is another story, for another day.
The Stanford Prison Experiment
Fast forward to summer 1971; I became Superintendent of the Sanford Prison, an experimental prison run by psychologists, not by the state. I wanted to understand better what happens when you put good people in a bad place, like prison. Who or what wins? Instead of observing what happens in real prisons that generate so much violence, I needed to separate what is usually confounded, the kind of prisoners and guards who populate prisons from the kind of forces operating in such places. To do so, it was necessary to conduct a controlled experiment, to select a group of volunteers who were normal, healthy young men with no history of crime or violence, and then randomly assign them to play the roles of prisoner or guard in a two-week long experiment in which we could observe and record everything that happened. Those assigned to be prisoners lived in their cells and on the prison yard all the time, 24/ 7; the guards worked 8 hour shifts.
Our prison simulation tried to create a psychology of imprisonment in the minds of all participants and staff, with all-powerful guards dominating powerless prisoners. The realistic elements including actual mass arrests and booking by the city police, visits by a prison chaplain, public defender, and parents in visiting hours, parole board hearings, along with unplanned prisoner rebellions and guards' abuse and torture of prisoners. The experiment had to be terminated after only 6 days because nearly half the prisoners had emotional breakdowns in response to the extreme stress and psychological torments sadistically invented by their guards. The situational forces had overwhelmed many of these good, intelligent college students.
Abu Ghraib Abuses
Fast forward next to April 2004. Horror images flash across our television screens of humiliating abuses of Iraqi prisoners by young American soldiers; men and women Military Police in Abu Ghraib Prison. The military commanders condemn these criminal actions of a "few bad apples," asserting that such abuses are not systematic in our military prisons. The images were shocking to me, but familiar because they were so similar to what I had seen in our mock Stanford Prison– Prisoners naked, bags over their heads, forced into sexually humiliating poses. Could the perpetrators of these evils be like the good apples in my prison? Could they have been corrupted by the "bad barrel" of the Abu Ghraib Prison within the bad barrel of war? To what extent was their behavior shaped by the same kinds of social psychological forces that operated in the Stanford Prison Experiment, such as dehumanization? My conclusion, after having become an expert witness for one of those military policemen, and reviewing all the evidence of the many investigations into these abuses, was that the parallels were palpable, the same psychology was at work despite different settings. One of the investigative reports by the Schlesinger Committee highlighted the fact that the "landmark Stanford study" should have been a cautionary tale for the military in preventing the Abu Ghraib abuses.
My new book, The Lucifer Effect presents a detailed analysis of the psychological transformation of good apples immersed in bad barrels, both in mock and real prisons. Such an understanding does not excuse immoral behavior, rather it makes us aware of how the to change those features of situations, like military prison environments, that can exerts such corrosive influences on even our best young soldiers who temporarily play various roles on those stages. Historical inquiry and behavioral science have demonstrated the "banality of evil"—that is, given certain conditions, ordinary people can succumb to social pressure to commit acts that would otherwise be unthinkable. Just as Lucifer was transformed from God's favorite angel into the devil, I argue that many good, ordinary people can also be seduced by situational forces to engage in evil deeds.
I also question how well any of us really knows what we are capable of doing in new situations where we might be given authority and control over others. We want to believe that we are good folks fully aware of the inner moral constraints on our behavior, and of course different from the bad folks on the other side of the line separating good and evil. But the dangerous thought to consider is that line being permeable, like cells of our body that allow movement of chemicals across their boundaries. Any thing that any human being has ever done, that is imaginable, becomes doable, by any of us in the same situation. It is a humbling corrective to our moral arrogance of assuming superiority without fully appreciating the situational forces that may have driven others just like us to become perpetrators of evil at that time in that place.
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In Part II of this series (to be posted next week) I will discuss how we can resist and overcome powerful situations to do good.